Design History and Culture: Methods and Approaches

This student-friendly text provides a comprehensive exploration of the methods and approaches employed within design scholarship, drawing upon influences from history, art history, anthropology and interdisciplinary studies such as science and technology studies and material culture studies.

Drawing connections between these methods and the evolving landscape of design, the book expands design culture beyond traditional outcomes to encompass areas like design for social innovation, digital design, critical design, design anthropology and craftivism. Additionally, the book introduces novel theoretical frameworks to facilitate discussions on contemporary designers’ work, including new materialism, object-oriented ontology and decolonization.

This comprehensive overview of methods and approaches will enable students to select the most appropriate methodological tools for their own research. It is an ideal guide for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in design, design culture, design history, design studies and visual culture.

Javier Gimeno-Martínez is an associate professor of Design Cultures at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research interest encompasses the crossovers between design scholarship and other disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences. He is the author of the book Design and National Identity (2016).